Thursday, July 30, 2009
In the home stretch...
Wednesday July 29: We may be approaching the end of our stay but that doesn't mean the excitement has slowed any! We started the day with a visit to Saiint Paul de Vence. This is a beautifully preserved medieval village where we enjoyed strolling the narrow streets, visiting the historic sites, and of course the shops and cafés. For lunch we decided to head over to Grasse, "the perfume capital of France". And finally, we drove down to Cannes for the beaches, the shopping, a group dinner on the Suquet and the fireworks show! Fantastic!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The first big goodbyes :(
Tuesday July 28: Today a large part of the Saint Laurent group said "goodbye" to their host family and friends. They left the Côte d'Azur today, but they will spend a few days ini Paris before returning home. In Paris the students will be staying at a hotel in the 8th, not far from the Opéra or the shops on Boulevard Haussman. Those of us stay on the Côte d'Azur accompanied our friends o the airport for a tearful farewell. We then went to Villefranche where will consoled ourselves with strolls and shopping in the old town, as well as with some swimming at the beach ;).
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sports nautiques!
Monday July 27: Today we hit the beaches of Saint Laurent. For many in the group it was for the last time so we went crazy with the beach activities! In addition to the usual sun bathing and swimming students also did wake boarding, the flyfish (remember that inflatable cushion pulled by a speeding boat that I mentioned in an earlier post ;) )and also water skiing. We had a blast!
Hanging out with the homestay families...
Sunday July 26: The students were given several options for today (beach in Beaulieu, free time in Nice, Bowling, etc.), but all preferred to spend the day with their French hosts in hopes of making the most of this last Sunday with their adoptive families.
Party and Pétanque!
Saturday July 25: This evening we continued an annual tradition here in Saint Laurent: the great host family/student/staff end of season party and pétanque competition! It was absolutely fantastic! The students provided the early evening entertainment with poetry readings, a few songs and a comedic sketch. The potluck supper was so delicious it seemed to vanish from the table as fast as it could be put there. Then it was an intense competition of pétanque that lead a few of the visiting parents (yes some of our students parents dropped by for a visit) learned what it means to be "fannied"... :) (I'll let them tell you about ;) ).
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Antibes!
Friday July 24: Last day of formal classes for the group in Saint Laurent (most of the group will be heading up to Paris early next week). Afterwards, train ride to the beautiful city of Antibes where we visited the Picasso Museum, the old city, the new city, and of course, the beach ;).
Maybe tomato pesto ice cream isn't such a good idea ;)
Après une petite marche, rien de mieux qu'une petite glace de chez "Fenocchio" dans le Vieux Nice... sauf quand on veut jouer aux aventuriers et tester le parfum TOMATE BASILIC!!!! N'est-ce pas Nic?!!
Joyeux anniversaire
Thursday July 23: Today after class and show rehearsal, the group headed to Nice for a bit of free time for shopping and the beach. Some students also chose to take a guided tour of the Confiserie (the candy shop I mentioned in an earlier post), and others went to the Musée de Beaux Arts which in addition to the works of art offers an incredible architecture. Later the students and host families gathered at the beach for a surprise birthday party for Delphine. Pan Bagnat, a local specialty, was one of the big hits of this pot luck supper!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Juan-les-Pins
Wednesday July 22: Today after class the group took a short train ride to Juan-les-Pins. This community is world famous for its Jazz festival (which is set to kick off very soon), however, Abbey Road students tend to enjoy it for its lively restaurant district and beaches where young people from all over the world gather to have fun in the sun. In addition, our students enjoyed a bit of sea kayaking along the rocky coast of neighboring Cap d'Antibes. I hope to upload some photos shortly. Gotta run... :)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Petite séance de sport!!!!
Tuesday July 21: Petite séance de sport!!!! Today after class some of us enjoyed some down time in Saint Laurent, but many of our energetic ladies chose to head to the local gym for a special group session of LIA. For those of you not familiar with this trendy exercise, imagine a high energy dance routine done as an aerobic workout! It was very fun!journée de plage à Ville Franche
Monday July 20: After class this morning we went to the beautiful cliffside village of Ville Franche-sur-Mer! The pastel pinks, yellows and oranges of the buildings of the old town are stunningly beautiful next to the azur of the Mediteranean. Most of the students enjoyed this day by lounging at the beach, but some went into the old town for a relaxed session of French tutoring. Back in Saint Laurent some chose to spend the evening with their host family, while others gather for a viewiing of the film "Auberge Espagnole", a film that really captures some of the essence of the study abroad experience.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Monaco and Eze
Sunday July 19: Visite de Monaco! It was tough getting up this morning after having spent the night in Cannes, but the visit to Monaco made it worhtwhile. The Palais Princier is spendid and the musée océanographique very interesting. Monte Carlo has a unique vibe that we all enjoyed.
After lunch we shifted gears by heading the medieval perched village of Eze. We strolled the narrow streets, visited a traditional perfumery and walked the an "exotic garden".
After lunch we shifted gears by heading the medieval perched village of Eze. We strolled the narrow streets, visited a traditional perfumery and walked the an "exotic garden".
Direction les Iles de Lérins!
Saturday July 18: Direction les Iles de Lérins! Slept in this morning and then hopped the train to Cannes where we caught the ferry over to the Lérins Islands. We visited the island of Sainte Marguerite which is virtually undevelopped, quite a contrast from the hustle of Cannes. This forest covered island offers beautiful walks and dramatic shoreline. It is also home to an old fort that was used to hold the infamous "Man in the Iron Mask". We took a guided visit of the fort before returning to Cannes. Back in Cannes we enjoyed the local film culture by attending a showing of the new Harry Potter film. All the wand waving left us hungry so we followed the movie with supper in the Suquet (the old quarter of Cannes).;)
Friday, July 17, 2009
The adventure starts here!
Et c'est parti pour de nouvelles aventures!!!
Rendez-vous à la gare! Here we are at the station preparing to set off for one of our many adventures!
the Italian Riviera, here we come!
Friday July 17: As if the French Riviera weren't enough, the group hopped the train to Ventimiglia, a town on the Italian Riviera just across the border. This town may not be as glamorous as its French counterparts, but the students loved strolling the enormous outdoor market and tasting the local cuisine.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Promenade en Catamaran!
Thursday July 16: Promenade en catamaran! Ahoy there maties! The breeze was too gentle to do somersaults with our rigs, but we enjoyed a great afternoon of sun and surf just the same. For many of the students this was the first time operating the sails and the first few moments were pretty funny!In other news... Jack, Mary and Sarah are scheduled to head home tomorrow. To see them off we gathered after supper at the Club nautique for a farewell party that included a special concert offered by the well known local artist Reynald. As the evening progressed, the concert evolved into a hilarious student karaoke event.
Pétanque anyone?
Wednesday July 15: Today we slept in hopes of recovering a bit from the fireworks and festivities last night in Cannes. It was good to get a few extra z's! French lessons took place right after lunch. Afterwards some of the ladies enjoyed a professional manicure, while the rest of us went down to the local Pétanque club to perfect our skills in this oh-so-French sporting tradition! Fred and Hudson turned out to be and unbeatable team. Some of us enjoy playing 'boules' so much that we got together again after supper to play. It was funny because the club is situated in a place where we could hear the music coming from the U2 concert taking place just across the river (I am convinced that U2 distinctive sound very noticably improved my game ;) )
A few words from our student Sarah
Bonjour tout le monde! The keyboard is different here, so I apologize in advance for typos. :) I am having a fabulous time so far, and at least once a day I have to shake myself to make myself believe that I'm really here- it's SO beautiful- the ocean (la mer), the architecture, the colors... Yesterday we went to Cannes for Bastille Day (le quatrieme juillet) and it was wonderful. I explored a little and did some window shopping, tried a new kind of ice cream (cappucinno yesterday- experimenting with new ice cream flavors has become a kind of daily ritual...), and went to beach, which was spectacular. Most of the beaches that we've been to are rocky, but in Cannes they're sandy which made a very nice change for my sore toes (lots and lots of walking!). The water is the perfect temperature-- cool enough so that it feels absolutely amazing when you think you're about to melt into a little puddle of sweat because of the heat, but not too cold. From where we were on the beach in Cannes, you could see mountains on one side and picturesque Mediterannean seaside hotels and houses on the other. Then we all met up and as a group had a picnic in the grass for dinner, then watched the fireworks (feux d'artifices), which were all set to music and actually really beautiful.
I think that Cannes had my favorite beach; as of now, my favorite "cultural/historical" outing was in the Vielle Ville (Old Village) in Nice. The buildings are beautiful, we saw a Baroque church in all of its detailed, ornate glory, and we climbed about 500 stairs to the place where a castle used to be. It's been destroyed for a couple of hundred years, but there's a park at the top of all of the stairs now and the view is incredible-- it feels like you can see the entire Cote d'Azur.
I would be very happy to be here for just the food, of which I'm eating a ton-- I don't know how it's possible, but I'm actually always hungry. :) My homestay mother is a fabulous cook-- I learned to make one thing called a "tartiflette," which is potatoes with onions, a little bit of ham, two eggs with sour cream and cheese- all mixed together and baked for 10 minutes. Writing that it sounds a little odd-tasting, but it's actually very yummy. Crèpes, Nutella, and Orangina (and ice cream) seem to be dietary staples here- all of which are just fine by me!
All right, speaking of food, I'm going to go eat a little lunch and then go to classes-- because we were out late last night, we got to sleep late today... I love France!
Talk to you later,
Sarah Sanders
I think that Cannes had my favorite beach; as of now, my favorite "cultural/historical" outing was in the Vielle Ville (Old Village) in Nice. The buildings are beautiful, we saw a Baroque church in all of its detailed, ornate glory, and we climbed about 500 stairs to the place where a castle used to be. It's been destroyed for a couple of hundred years, but there's a park at the top of all of the stairs now and the view is incredible-- it feels like you can see the entire Cote d'Azur.
I would be very happy to be here for just the food, of which I'm eating a ton-- I don't know how it's possible, but I'm actually always hungry. :) My homestay mother is a fabulous cook-- I learned to make one thing called a "tartiflette," which is potatoes with onions, a little bit of ham, two eggs with sour cream and cheese- all mixed together and baked for 10 minutes. Writing that it sounds a little odd-tasting, but it's actually very yummy. Crèpes, Nutella, and Orangina (and ice cream) seem to be dietary staples here- all of which are just fine by me!
All right, speaking of food, I'm going to go eat a little lunch and then go to classes-- because we were out late last night, we got to sleep late today... I love France!
Talk to you later,
Sarah Sanders
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Fireworks!
Bonjour à toutes et à tous!
Monday July 13: After class the group went in to Nice where the group took a closer look at some of the historical and cultural treasures hidden in the Vieux Quartier. Afterwards somes of the students chose to stroll up to the Château which for more than 200 years hasn't been a château but a lovely park overlooking the Bay of Angels. Other students joined me for a guided tour of a local Confisserie whose speciality is cannied flowers (some of you with likely receive a tasty souvenir).
Tuesday July 14: The 14th is the French national holiday whose date was chosen, in part, to commemorate the taking of the Bastille in 1789. We celebrated it with a trip to Cannes where we watched an amazing pyrotechnic show presented by an Italian group participatinig in the annual fire works competition. We had a great view from our place on the Croisette just a short distance from to famous Palais du Festival.
Monday July 13: After class the group went in to Nice where the group took a closer look at some of the historical and cultural treasures hidden in the Vieux Quartier. Afterwards somes of the students chose to stroll up to the Château which for more than 200 years hasn't been a château but a lovely park overlooking the Bay of Angels. Other students joined me for a guided tour of a local Confisserie whose speciality is cannied flowers (some of you with likely receive a tasty souvenir).
Tuesday July 14: The 14th is the French national holiday whose date was chosen, in part, to commemorate the taking of the Bastille in 1789. We celebrated it with a trip to Cannes where we watched an amazing pyrotechnic show presented by an Italian group participatinig in the annual fire works competition. We had a great view from our place on the Croisette just a short distance from to famous Palais du Festival.
Monday, July 13, 2009
It doesn't get any better than this!
Sunday July 12:
Today we slept in a bit then hopped on the train to Beaulieu. Beaulieu is a seaside village at the base of towering cliffs. It is absolutely gorgeous! Of course we went to the beach! The beaches at Beaulieu are rather different than those of Saint Laurent or Nice because instead of big round skipping stones, the beaches here are seem almost sandy the pebbles are so fine.
Some students also chose to join us on a visit of the Villa Kerylos. This amazing place was home to Theodore Reinach, an influential man during the French Third Republic. Theodore was passionate about ancient Greece and he had his home built to resemble that of an aristocrat of those long ago days. The villa has many beautiful features, but most impressive, to me, are the mosaic floors. Just beautiful!
Other students chose to stroll along the sea to near by Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. One finds here great views, nice cafés and also the Villa Rothschild.
à bientôt
Today we slept in a bit then hopped on the train to Beaulieu. Beaulieu is a seaside village at the base of towering cliffs. It is absolutely gorgeous! Of course we went to the beach! The beaches at Beaulieu are rather different than those of Saint Laurent or Nice because instead of big round skipping stones, the beaches here are seem almost sandy the pebbles are so fine.
Some students also chose to join us on a visit of the Villa Kerylos. This amazing place was home to Theodore Reinach, an influential man during the French Third Republic. Theodore was passionate about ancient Greece and he had his home built to resemble that of an aristocrat of those long ago days. The villa has many beautiful features, but most impressive, to me, are the mosaic floors. Just beautiful!
Other students chose to stroll along the sea to near by Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. One finds here great views, nice cafés and also the Villa Rothschild.
à bientôt
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Nice is nice ;)
Friday July 10: After class we headed out to Nice where we had time to shop the pedestrian zone around place Maséna. We also enjoyed swimming in the crystal blues waters of the beaches along la Promenade des Anglais.
Saturday July 11: We are back in Nice today for a guides visit of Vieux Nice, a visit to the Museum of Modern and Contempory Art and of course some lounging at the beach.
Nice really is nice ;)
Saturday July 11: We are back in Nice today for a guides visit of Vieux Nice, a visit to the Museum of Modern and Contempory Art and of course some lounging at the beach.
Nice really is nice ;)
Friday, July 10, 2009
Our first few days...
Re-bonjour à tous et à toutes!
A few words to bring you up to date on what's been happening in Saint Laurent since our arrival on Saturday:
As you may well imagine, we were all glad to get settled in with our hosts after a long day of travel from the States. There had been some flight delays and airport confusion, but as you all know, such is par for the course and everything came together in the end.
The following day we the group gathered for some ice-breakers as well as for an initial orientation to the program.
Monday began with morning French courses followed by a group picnic, a guided visit of medieval Saint Laurent, trips to the beach at Cagnes sur Mer, the port at Sainit Laurent and the local shopping mecca Cap 3000.
Tuesday after class the students competed in a Treasure Hunt around Saint Laurent then we hit the beach. In the evening we got together to relax with a few rounds of Pictionary and Taboo.
Yesterday we planned to head over to nearby Antibes, but the trains stopped running unexpectedly (welcome to France ;) ) and so the group voted to hit the beach for some swimming, beach volley ball and the "flyfish" (an inflatable raft pulled by a rather fast moving boat ;) )
Today we are off to Nice (SNCF willing ;) )...
Well, I know I am leaving out alot, but there's so much going on it's hard to fit it all in to a short blog entry.
I'll write again soon!
à bientôt!
A few words to bring you up to date on what's been happening in Saint Laurent since our arrival on Saturday:
As you may well imagine, we were all glad to get settled in with our hosts after a long day of travel from the States. There had been some flight delays and airport confusion, but as you all know, such is par for the course and everything came together in the end.
The following day we the group gathered for some ice-breakers as well as for an initial orientation to the program.
Monday began with morning French courses followed by a group picnic, a guided visit of medieval Saint Laurent, trips to the beach at Cagnes sur Mer, the port at Sainit Laurent and the local shopping mecca Cap 3000.
Tuesday after class the students competed in a Treasure Hunt around Saint Laurent then we hit the beach. In the evening we got together to relax with a few rounds of Pictionary and Taboo.
Yesterday we planned to head over to nearby Antibes, but the trains stopped running unexpectedly (welcome to France ;) ) and so the group voted to hit the beach for some swimming, beach volley ball and the "flyfish" (an inflatable raft pulled by a rather fast moving boat ;) )
Today we are off to Nice (SNCF willing ;) )...
Well, I know I am leaving out alot, but there's so much going on it's hard to fit it all in to a short blog entry.
I'll write again soon!
à bientôt!
Let,s get this blog started!
Bonjour chers amis!
I am writing from Saint Laurent du Var on the beautiful and ever sunny French Riviera! We arrived on Saturday, July 4th and have been going non-stop since. I intend to keep you updated of our daily adventures via the blog, but for now I have got to run. I will catch you up on our first week a little bit later today when I have a moment. For now, know that all is well, the students are in fine health and spirits and they are enjoying la joie de vivre française!
à plus tard
I am writing from Saint Laurent du Var on the beautiful and ever sunny French Riviera! We arrived on Saturday, July 4th and have been going non-stop since. I intend to keep you updated of our daily adventures via the blog, but for now I have got to run. I will catch you up on our first week a little bit later today when I have a moment. For now, know that all is well, the students are in fine health and spirits and they are enjoying la joie de vivre française!
à plus tard
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